Sunday, January 21, 2007

Yes, I am in Love!

Yes, for the first time in my life I am wanting to going back to 1960’s. I wish I were born at that time. Is it too late? Or is it not?? I am not sure!!

When I picked up this book “Icon: Steve Jobs” from a friend, I hardly knew who this person is. Though I was faintly remembering that he is The Apple CEO, at that point when I had that book in my hand, all information about him had sunken deep down in the layers of my memory. I simply couldn’t recall who this guy is. I had to find who he is from the cover of that book!

It was almost a week that I got the book; I didn’t bother to read it in the impression that it is going to be another biography giving the management fundaes. But then to my surprise it turned out to be quite different giving the real picture of a person as he is. After all it is an unauthorized biography of Steve Jobs. I couldn’t put the book down until I finished it. I also got the other book about steve the very next day "The Second Coming of Steve Jobs". It only propelled my love for Steve!

From the time I started reading the book till I finished, I simply felt I have crossed few decades, as if his entire life till now crossed in my presence. I now feel that I am connected to him in so many ways.

I have changed my company before also. But never felt a feeling of greatness when I joined this company. Well this is where Steve got his summer job experience.

When I was in my graduation, I was interested only in participating in singing and not into writing stuff. One of friends forced me to take part in Creative Writing just to give her company. Well I just took it up impromptu. I wrote about two pages on some topic which was given and my friend was writing on and on… don’t know what she could write so much on that. Guess what! I got a second price for that Impromptu Creative writing. I was amazed I could write. That’s when I realized that I have a flair for writing …for Creative writing! This is just one part of my creativity. I believe everybody would agree on the amount of creativity that Steve carries in his little brain and his products prove them! He is The Ultimate Manifestaion & Definition of Creativity!

I was born on the day of Buddha Pournima. I always use to think there should be some reason why I was born on that day. This curiosity always drove my interest towards learning more about Buddha, Buddhism and hence Zen Meditation. I absolutely believe that “enlightenment can be attained through meditation and direct intuitive insight rather than faith”. And so does Steve!

I can just go on with so many other trivial things that connect me to him.

I was tagged sometime before which asked me about my perfect lover.I thought my perfect lover can exist only in fairy tales with so many adjectives.But then Steve is simply far, far more than what I expected. The sheer determination, the never, never, never, never, never give up attitude; and I can go on and on writing about him and it is endless…Well, there are lots of rich people on the block, but why Steve? It’s not about richness or money; it’s about how rich a person is after all the money is set apart! Whether he has the ability to create, to generate!

Anyone but Him is going to be a Compromise in my Life. I know the impact I am creating by making this statement. I am slashing down the whole mass of egoist guys who might want to be a part of my life but not a compromise. But what the heck! I can’t turn down The Truth that I have realized.

P.S. My Today’s Horoscope: Love is in the air now, whether you are in it or want it. Either way, the romantic dream may feel so close that you cannot even tell it apart from reality. The biggest problem with having these fantasies is that the actual situation cannot match up to your vision. Don't set up a potentially wonderful experience for failure before you give it a proper chance to develop.

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Just for the people who want to read further!

You've Got To Find What You Love!

This is text of a speech by Steve Jobs, CEO of Apple Computer and of Pixar Animation Studios, delivered on June 12, 2005 at Stanford University. I'm sharing it here and hoping that few young souls might find it enlightening... (I was thinking whether I should apply to Stanford or not! But now I guess I will)

"I am honoured to be with you today at your commencement from one of the finest universities in the world. I never graduated from college. Truth be told, this is the closest I've ever gotten to a college graduation. Today I want to tell you three stories from my life. That's it. No big deal. Just three stories.

The first story is about connecting the dots.

I dropped out of Reed College after the first 6 months, but then stayed around as a drop-in for another 18 months or so before I really quit. So why did I drop out?

It started before I was born. My biological mother was a young, unwed college graduate student, and she decided to put me up for adoption. She felt very strongly that I should be adopted by college graduates, so everything was all set for me to be adopted at birth by a lawyer and his wife. Except that when I popped out they decided at the last minute that they really wanted a girl. So my parents, who were on a waiting list, got a call in the middle of the night asking: "We have an unexpected baby boy; do you want him?" They said: "Of course." My biological mother later found out that my mother had never graduated from college and that my father had never graduated from high school. She refused to sign the final adoption papers. She only relented a few months later when my parents promised that I would someday go to college.

And 17 years later I did go to college. But I naively chose a college that was almost as expensive as Stanford, and all of my working-class parents' savings were being spent on my college tuition. After six months, I couldn't see the value in it. I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life and no idea how college was going to help me figure it out. And here I was spending all of the money my parents had saved their entire life. So I decided to drop out and trust that it would all work out OK. It was pretty scary at the time, but looking back it was one of the best decisions I ever made. The minute I dropped out I could stop taking the required classes that didn't interest me, and begin dropping in on the ones that looked interesting.

It wasn't all romantic. I didn't have a dorm room, so I slept on the floor in friends' rooms, I returned coke bottles for the 5¢ deposits to buy food with, and I would walk the 7 miles across town every Sunday night to get one good meal a week at the Hare Krishna temple. I loved it. And much of what I stumbled into by following my curiosity and intuition turned out to be priceless later on. Let me give you one example:

Reed College at that time offered perhaps the best calligraphy instruction in the country. Throughout the campus every poster, every label on every drawer, was beautifully hand calligraphed. Because I had dropped out and didn't have to take the normal classes, I decided to take a calligraphy class to learn how to do this. I learned about serif and san serif typefaces, about varying the amount of space between different letter combinations, about what makes great typography great. It was beautiful, historical, artistically subtle in a way that science can't capture, and I found it fascinating.

None of this had even a hope of any practical application in my life. But ten years later, when we were designing the first Macintosh computer, it all came back to me. And we designed it all into the Mac. It was the first computer with beautiful typography. If I had never dropped in on that single course in college, the Mac would have never had multiple typefaces or proportionally spaced fonts. And since Windows just copied the Mac, it’s likely that no personal computer would have them. If I had never dropped out, I would have never dropped in on this calligraphy class, and personal computers might not have the wonderful typography that they do. Of course it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards ten years later.

Again, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. This approach has never let me down, and it has made all the difference in my life.

My second story is about love and loss.

I was lucky — I found what I loved to do early in life. Woz and I started Apple in my parents’ garage when I was 20. We worked hard, and in 10 years Apple had grown from just the two of us in a garage into a $2 billion company with over 4000 employees. We had just released our finest creation — the Macintosh — a year earlier, and I had just turned 30. And then I got fired. How can you get fired from a company you started? Well, as Apple grew we hired someone who I thought was very talented to run the company with me, and for the first year or so things went well. But then our visions of the future began to diverge and eventually we had a falling out. When we did, our Board of Directors sided with him. So at 30 I was out. And very publicly out. What had been the focus of my entire adult life was gone, and it was devastating.

I really didn't know what to do for a few months. I felt that I had let the previous generation of entrepreneurs down - that I had dropped the baton as it was being passed to me. I met with David Packard and Bob Noyce and tried to apologize for screwing up so badly. I was a very public failure, and I even thought about running away from the valley. But something slowly began to dawn on me — I still loved what I did. The turn of events at Apple had not changed that one bit. I had been rejected, but I was still in love. And so I decided to start over.

I didn't see it then, but it turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that could have ever happened to me. The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life.

During the next five years, I started a company named NeXT, another company named Pixar, and fell in love with an amazing woman who would become my wife. Pixar went on to create the worlds first computer animated feature film, Toy Story, and is now the most successful animation studio in the world. In a remarkable turn of events, Apple bought NeXT, I returned to Apple, and the technology we developed at NeXT is at the heart of Apple's current renaissance. And Laurene and I have a wonderful family together.

I'm pretty sure none of this would have happened if I hadn't been fired from Apple. It was awful tasting medicine, but I guess the patient needed it. Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick. Don't lose faith. I'm convinced that the only thing that kept me going was that I loved what I did. You've got to find what you love. And that is as true for your work as it is for your lovers. Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it. And, like any great relationship, it just gets better and better as the years roll on. So keep looking until you find it. Don't settle.

My third story is about death.

When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right." It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself: "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?" And whenever the answer has been "No" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something.

Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life. Because almost everything — all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.

About a year ago I was diagnosed with cancer. I had a scan at 7:30 in the morning, and it clearly showed a tumour on my pancreas. I didn't even know what a pancreas was. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable, and that I should expect to live no longer than three to six months. My doctor advised me to go home and get my affairs in order, which is doctor's code for prepare to die. It means to try to tell your kids everything you thought you'd have the next 10 years to tell them in just a few months. It means to make sure everything is buttoned up so that it will be as easy as possible for your family. It means to say your goodbyes.

I lived with that diagnosis all day. Later that evening I had a biopsy, where they stuck an endoscope down my throat, through my stomach and into my intestines, put a needle into my pancreas and got a few cells from the tumour. I was sedated, but my wife, who was there, told me that when they viewed the cells under a microscope the doctors started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is curable with surgery. I had the surgery and I'm fine now.

This was the closest I've been to facing death, and I hope it’s the closest I get for a few more decades. Having lived through it, I can now say this to you with a bit more certainty than when death was a useful but purely intellectual concept:

No one wants to die. Even people who want to go to heaven don't want to die to get there. And yet death is the destination we all share. No one has ever escaped it. And that is as it should be, because Death is very likely the single best invention of Life. It is Life's change agent. It clears out the old to make way for the new. Right now the new is you, but someday not too long from now, you will gradually become the old and be cleared away. Sorry to be so dramatic, but it is quite true.

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma — which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

When I was young, there was an amazing publication called The Whole Earth Catalogue, which was one of the bibles of my generation. It was created by a fellow named Stewart Brand not far from here in Menlo Park, and he brought it to life with his poetic touch. This was in the late 1960's, before personal computers and desktop publishing, so it was all made with typewriters, scissors, and polaroid cameras. It was sort of like Google in paperback form, 35 years before Google came along: it was idealistic, and overflowing with neat tools and great notions.

Stewart and his team put out several issues of The Whole Earth Catalogue, and then when it had run its course, they put out a final issue. It was the mid-1970s, and I was your age. On the back cover of their final issue was a photograph of an early morning country road, the kind you might find yourself hitchhiking on if you were so adventurous. Beneath it were the words: "Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish." It was their farewell message as they signed off. Stay Hungry. Stay Foolish. And I have always wished that for myself. And now, as you graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you.

Thanks for introducing Icon. "enlightenment can be attained through meditation and direct intuitive insight rather than faith" - I liked the best. I would suggest Osho as the best source of exploring Zen. All other schools of Buddhism made Buddha a God, and destroyed the very root of his teachings. Never get into any -isms. They will take u away from the essense and let you live in details and dogmas.

I knew couple of things about Steve...but not in this much of detail. Thanks for sharing it with all of us ... and good to know why you like Steve Jobs so much now ;)

I remember while in engg, I came across this nice article on Bill Gates...he sold his first program at the age of 17 and I was kinda of inspired by him...I too sold ma first proggie while in ma last year of engg for a few bucks...though that was kinda illegal one...but still I made few buck from it :)

I do like the fact that we should all live as if day were our last. We all take too much for granted. I never thought of asking one self what would I do today if it were my last. Mmmmm...maybe play hookie and go have some fun! I try not to live with regrets and expectations. They only let you down.

Here is the actual video of the man himself speaking at Stanford....http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1R-jKKp3NA. And for those whom who're not gifted to be at a place like Stanford, this is it...places like this...

This is really an inspirational speech that I read whenever I felt that I am losing my focus.The best thing that i always liked about it was the emphasis on finding "What you love to do?" and "living every moment by doing what you love".In every line of this speech the passion that propels his forward is really evident :). Hopefully we will get some more products like Ipod and Iphone from some souls who will be inspired by this speech :)

This is really an inspirational speech that I read whenever I felt that I am losing my focus.The best thing that i always liked about it was the emphasis on finding "What you love to do?" and "living every moment by doing what you love".In every line of this speech the passion that propels his forward is really evident :). Hopefully we will get some more products like Ipod and Iphone from some souls who will be inspired by this speech :)

I never thought I am going to read ur entire post...I hate lengthy posts, forwards etc...till they are personal :)...but ur love for Mr. Steves made me want to read the article...know a little abt Steve but not all that abt him!!!And the last words...Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish are one of the few very best lines I have ever heard...very very inspiring.Thank You.

Hi, sorry I took time to reach hereTruly inspiring speech, This seems to be a biography of a successful man. Steve jobs is well known and people would read him, This biography would have helped many to discover their strengths and weaknesses. I have not read this biography as I am more interested in reading a biography of a man who couldn't make it. who would read a depressing biography of an unsuccessful man any way ? There are very few success stories, but this is not life Ratna, this kind of inspiration could be misleading.

Very cool, White Forest. I'm glad I took the time to read it. I've been reflecting lately on how the dots in my life have been connecting themselves, and all I can see is that I'm glad that there have been times I have felt compelled to do what I loved, because otherwise there would be a lot less dots to connect today.

"The heaviness of being successful was replaced by the lightness of being a beginner again, less sure about everything. It freed me to enter one of the most creative periods of my life."

Very much true. Being a beginner always brings out the best in us.

"You've got to find what you love."True. :)

"Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become."

a beautiful post...infact I could'nt take out my eyes the moment i started to read.....truly inspiring......infact Jobbs is a rebel,a maverick dreamer who wants to change the world.......or should i say changed the world.....